Most people will tell you, with sound logic, that there’s no point making your own baked beans: Heinz trumps all comers. I have some sympathy with this view. Yet shop-bought baked beans are rammed with sugar and salt, and also don’t seem quite right as a side to anything other than a low-effort banger, pie, jacket potato or a full English breakfast. For occasions when you’ve spent a bit of time cooking BBQ ribs, pulled pork, chicken pot pie or maybe just some good-quality sausages, then a smoky home-cooked version does the job very nicely indeed.
You could use pre-cooked cannellini and haricot beans, though they’ll break up in the bake somewhat more than is ideal; just multiply the dried bean weight by three and begin at the second step below. The beans can be reheated or cooked in stages to suit your timings.